A Noble End
by Vicky Smith
Summary: He had to be there... didn't he?


A Noble End

Donna stared out into the night sky, she loved looking up at the stars. It gave her a real sense of peace and calmness, she decided that she must've inherited that from her grndfather. Her husband and children had always taken the mickey out of the pure delight that she took from the formations in the darkness. She ambled over to her bed and slid between the crisp cotton sheets, slowly drifting off to sleep.

Sometimes, during those moments just before falling asleep, she had the most odd images appearing before her eyes. A robotic Santa Claus, small little soft white creatures that seemed child-like, creatures with tentacles spouting from their faces... and the darkness. A different darkness, there were no stars in this sky and it always gave her a very queasy feeling in the pit of her belly. Donna always slipped into sleep at that point. Then, images of her long dead and very beloved husband would fill her mind instead. She had been so lucky to have found him. It had been almost fated, had she believed in such things. Sometimes it felt as if it all happened yesterday.

They had met in 2012, Donna had been recruited to oversee the HR department for the Olympic admin team by the BW International Corperation. Donna stepped into a lift, closely followed by a tall man with dark hair. They had stood in silence until the lift juddered to an abrupt halt. Donna smiled nervously at him.

"Don't really expect new lifts to break down, do you?"

The man smiled back and shook his head in a response. Silence followed. Donna stepped forward and pressed the alarm button.

"Oh, well... as long as you're not claustrophobic."

A look of panic crossed his face.

"Oh, God... you're not are you?"

He nodded slightly.

"Don't worry, we'll be okay. They'll get it working soon enough," Donna paused. "Not much of a talker, are you?"

"S.. sorry... I... I have a... bi... bit of a... sta... stammer."

Donna's eyes lit up.

"Perfect!"

Very soon afterwoods Donna married Lee McEvoy and they created a life together with children quickly following. Donna had been surprsied at how decisive she had been about the children's names. Her beautiful daughter, Rose. Her brave Jack and her youngest son John was what he had been named, but his older siblings called him 'Doc' and that was the name that had stuck for life.

Donna loved these dreams, it made the waking hours so much easier to tolerate. Lee had died several years ago and the children were grown with families of their own. They all loved her, she knew but it wasn't the same. She missed her husband.

Donna woke several hours later, her bones stiff and her mind alert. She slowly raised her body up and out of the comfort of her bed. The bedroom door swung open to reveal a tall, skinny, young man in a brown suit.

"Donna?" he asked softly.

"I... I know you, don't I?"

"Yes, Donna... you do."

There was a sadness in his eyes, it was one that Donna recognised. The realization that death was close. The man moved towards the bed.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Donna hesitated for one short second and then in a moment it was as if a veil had been dropped from in front of her eyes.

"Yes... yes, I do... Doctor," she gasped.

The man with impossibly great hair grinned. It was a grin that filled his face with life, it seemed to Donna that that was a life that he had shut away. Donna pushed back the covers and clambered out of her bed. She grabbed a dressing gown and drew it around her body.

The Doctor stretched out his hand to Donna. Her eyes widened as he led her though the door only to be greeted by a blue wooden box.

"The TARDIS! I remember... the last time I saw you. But you... you haven't changed... look at me. I got old."

"Ahh, you'll always be gobby Donna Noble to me."

"Oi, watch it! That's Donna Noble-McEvoy, if you don't mind."

The grin reappeared on the Doctor's face matching the one on Donna's. He opend the doors and Donna shuffled her weary body up the ramp.

"So, Doctor... where are we going? Felspoon?"

"Donna!"

"Oh yes!"

"You remember?"

"Oh yes!"

Fours eyes glittered, minds matched in shared memories.

"Donna?" he sounded almost hesitant.

"Mmm," her answer was almost absent-minded as she stroked the TARDIS.

"You know why I'm here?"

Donna stopped and looked straight into his eyes. She knew. The Doctor had planned this so long ago. Lifes ago. He had checked her timeline, something he would never normally do. He would normally have perceived it as meddling, but this was... different. This was right. He had plotted in the co-ordinates and finally the day had come.

"Yes, the wall that you put up to protect me has broken, I can that guess from all the brainy activity that is suddenly happening... oh, we were going to do so much. But I had a different path to walk, I hope your life has been as filled as mine. I hope that you haven't been alone all these long years. And now it's my... end. My journey's end.

"Oh Donna, I'm sorry... I'm so," Donna interrupted him.

"No," she spoke sharply. "Don't, just don't. I'm ready. I've had a great life, a fantastic life... you were always part of it. Even if I didn't know."

He smiled briefly.

"And now, Donna?"

"Ahh... I think you know. It was seen a long time ago. My particular song is ending."

The Doctor started to speak.

"No, Doctor... it's fine, No, it's more than fine... it's right. This really is the way that it should be."

As Donna slowly began to shake, the Doctor took her into his arms.

"Donna... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Donna fell against him, it seemed as if she were asleep. A tear ran down his cheek. The Doctor raised a hand to her head and held it against it. He saw the last fleeting images of Donna. She was stretching out a hand to Lee, they were laughing, they were happy, they were together.

The Doctor carried Donna back to her bedroom and gently laid her to rest, pulling the covers over her frail body. He stood guard until morning. He knew that her children were visiting. He watched as they found her, he kept guard as they wept. He wept when they buried her beside her husband. He waited until they had left and stood by the grave.

"Donna Noble... you were brilliant."

He felt a movement behind him and a whisper on the wind.

"And so were you." 


End file.
